Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Lobbying Push To Focus On Health Law’s Day At The Supreme Court

The Hill: Supreme Court Hearing On Obama Health Law Sets Up Lobbying Storm
Next year's Supreme Court decision on the healthcare reform law could be the most heavily lobbied ever. Corporations, unions, trade groups and advocates are expected to spend millions of dollars over the next few months trying to shape the court's thinking on whether the law's individual mandate is constitutional. Their efforts will include ideological appeals, popularity contests and recusal campaigns - none of which are likely to have much effect on the outcome of the case (Pecquet, 11/27).

In coverage earlier this weekend, the Associated Press looked at the controversy about two justices who will hear the case.

The Associated Press: Thomas, Kagan Asked To Sit Out Health Care Case
Conservative interest groups and Republican lawmakers want Justice Elena Kagan off the health care case. Liberals and Democrats in Congress say it's Justice Clarence Thomas who should sit it out. Neither justice is budging — the right decision, according to many ethicists and legal experts. ... Republican lawmakers recently have stepped up their effort against Kagan, complaining that the Justice Department has not fully revealed Kagan's involvement in planning the response to challenges to the law. Kagan was Obama's solicitor general ... Democrats have said Thomas has a conflict of interest stemming from the work of his wife, Virginia, with several groups that opposed the health care overhaul (Sherman, 11/26).